Francis Lee's follow-up to his underrated gem God's Own Country was not exactly a sophomore slump, but where the latter had humour, passion and "wore its heart on its sleeve", Ammonite was cold, frigid and devoid of much levity. There were moments of tenderness and one scene of genuine warmth and love, but it was too little and too brief to ignite the flames - or even the loins. The crux was the lack of chemistry between its two leads, Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. It was difficult to envisage them as lovers.
Winslet was great, as usual, giving much weight and meaning to each glance, pinched lips and drag of her cigarette (she really ought to be in a Wong Kar Wai film), and that was extremely useful in Lee's sparse script. Her character was sort of an enigma but not difficult to relate to. An introverted yet sensitive person who dislikes social engagements and outward expressions of emotions, but is deeply passionate and empathetic. Such characters would be described as stoic or reserved if they were a man, but as a woman, she would be termed frigid or cold or emotionless. And that was the brilliance of Lee and Winslet's creation. But I am not sure how many people will really see it as that. Winslet portrayed her with layers of complexity and she was fascinating to watch and follow.
Ronan, on the other hand, was given less to do, and we know she is capable of doing so much more! But unfortunately, those four Oscar nominations did not translate to her being convincingly enthralled - or besotted - with Winslet. Her character lacked dimensions and she seemed to exist only to drive the plot the forward rather than as a co-lead in a romance drama. Perhaps, this film may have worked better had another actress been cast as Ronan's character and Lee given her more of agency than just a young neglected wife who suffered a personal tragedy.
There were also other problems other than the casting. Mainly, Lee's screenplay. This was a lot clunkier than God's Own Country and the paucity of dialogue did not disguise the many cringe-worthy lines spilling out of the characters' lips. The best bits actually seemed to be Winslet's improv-ed utterances. Surely not all serious period pieces need to be so muted and so glum. Thankfully, Winslet was able to translate and transcend those silences with a crinkling of her eyes or a slight twinge of the corners of her lips.
And we also have the directing. By gosh, Lee really lacked subtlety here what with all the heavy handed foreshadowing and dramatic ironies. One could appreciate the cold dreariness of the Dorset coast without having to be constantly enveloped and suffocated by it? And surely, there must be warm blood flowing through Winslet's stone-cold heart.
That being said, the cinematography by Stephane Fontaine - for all the directorial choices - was beautiful. Music was sparse, and although beautiful was used mainly to hammer in the emotional beats which felt manipulative. The costuming were gorgeous, but Ronan's wig less so.
Lastly, we have to talk about that epilogue. That was too long. It could have ended just before that and it would have been great.
(Mild Spoilers Ahead) Throughout the film, Lee had not hinted that the lovers could have had any chance beyond the plotted inevitability, and also, their lack of chemistry did not encourage the audience to actively root for them. Therefore, it could have ended just right before the epilogue and it would have been fitting. (End Spoilers)
But instead, we had to deal with an addition ten to fifteen minutes and three or four unnecessary scenes before the film actually ended. Although thankfully, the proper ending itself was a highlight of the film. That vague ambiguity ignited more passion than all the much-touted sex scenes. It also showed that those aforementioned unnecessary epilogue scenes were clearly there so that the characters, and the director, could S-P-E-L-L out exactly what they were supposed to be thinking/feeling. That felt like a studio note rather than an auteur choice.
Ammonite was a good film. It just was not a great film. It was enjoyable and Winslet was mesmerising. She might even get an Oscar nomination given how the year is going. However, it felt as cold as it looked and Lee could really have injected more warmth into it. Not all "serious" shows have to be brooding.
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